“Who! Who did this?!”
The king’s furious roar echoed throughout the entire room in the church.
At this moment, the Third Princess Lilia was lying on the bed, covered only by a thick woolen blanket. If not for the others present, the king would have been unable to resist lifting the blanket to see how badly his daughter was injured. But even without looking, it didn’t matter—Lilia’s face was paler than a corpse, and the faint, barely-there breath at her lips had already proven to everyone that she was hanging by a thread.
A bishop in charge bowed low and whispered into the king’s ear. “Your Majesty, please calm yourself…”
“Calm myself? How do you expect me to calm myself?! If your daughter were wounded like this, could you calm yourself?!”
The king’s fist slammed down toward the table with all his might, but just before it landed, he changed direction and struck his own thigh instead.
“Huff…” The king exhaled forcefully, like a beast’s low growl. Once wasn’t enough. He took several deep breaths. The room fell into dead silence, broken only by uneasy breathing and the faint rustle of fabric from small movements. After several such breaths, the king’s voice steadied a little, but anger still simmered beneath it.
“Where is Xingxian? Telistayin? Where is my daughter’s personal knight?!”
“Your Majesty.”
A weak voice came from a nearby bed. If not for that voice, many might not have noticed there was someone lying on the far bed. A girl whose entire body was wrapped in blood-soaked bandages labored to climb out of bed. Aside from a coat draped over her shoulders, she was completely unclothed. Even so, the bandaged parts far outnumbered the exposed skin. One look was enough to know her injuries were equally severe—perhaps even worse than Lilia’s.
From her distinctive height and hair color, it was clear she was Lilia’s personal knight, Xingxian Telistayin. Supporting herself on the bed with one hand, she stood up. The moment her toes touched the floor, her face twisted in pain, and her legs gave way, nearly sending her crashing down.
Everyone knew why she didn’t fall. They all heard the sharp crack of bone—not the sound of joints grinding, but the sickening scrape of broken splinters.
“Enough. Get back in bed!” The king snorted coldly, then instructed the silent nuns, “Give her the best treatment. And my daughter too—the best, understand?”
At the king’s command, a few nuns dared to step forward and help Xingxian back into bed. The bishop beside the king finally got the chance to explain. “Not long ago, Lady Xingxian, covered in wounds, appeared at the city gate with the Third Princess. We immediately treated them both. For now, they are out of immediate danger, but whether the danger will return, and when they will wake up, I cannot say.”
The king glanced at Xingxian, who was biting her lips and saying nothing, then at Lilia, unconscious in the bed. He slowly walked closer to Xingxian’s bedside. She tried to rise, but the king stopped her with a fierce glare.
“Telistayin, I order you to rest. Your duty isn’t over.”
Just like before, Xingxian swallowed her reply under the king’s gaze.
“Inform me immediately if anything happens.” With that, the king turned and left the room, making the remaining bishop and nuns all sigh in relief.
—
The king sat at the center of the council chamber, his brows furrowed so tightly they could crush a mosquito. Only a few people were in the room—those either connected to the attack on Lilia or trusted confidants of the king.
“Who is this ‘Glen’?”
An old man with cloudy eyes opened them wide. “Your Majesty, that is not a single person’s name. It’s a faction. The Third Princess has been investigating this group recently.”
“What kind of faction?” the king asked.
“It’s… a cult, I suppose. Their people sow confusion and corrupt hearts, and they only move among the countryside. It’s not easy to catch their trail.”
“You mean this group harmed my daughter?” The king snorted.
“Very possible, very possible…” the old man repeated.
“Good. Very good. Dig three feet into the ground if you have to. Find these people. Kill them. Kill them all!” The king slammed the armrest heavily, his emotions growing more intense.
“I’m afraid what Lord Qiao La said may not be reliable.” A bald man with a feminine voice stepped forward, speaking with a shrill tone.
“Pierre?” The king recognized him. “What do you think?”
“Today is Lady Lita’s knighthood ceremony. The Third Princess hasn’t returned for days. Your Majesty also set a three-day deadline… As far as I know, the Third Princess and the Fourth Princess have never gotten along well.” Pierre spoke softly, observing everyone’s expressions. “Besides, when the Fourth Princess and Lady Lita went to the Northlands earlier, they had plenty of time to prepare. Even if that weren’t the case, I’ve heard Lady Lita has been taking etiquette classes these past few days, seeing no one. Who can prove…”
“Nonsense!” The king cursed crudely, forcing the fat bald man to shut his mouth. “Do you think I don’t know Cecilia’s nature? Lita was personally chosen by Cecilia as her knight. Would I fail to verify that with my own eyes? Are you saying I am blind, Pierre?”
Still unsatisfied, the king banged the table again. “My daughter is at death’s door, and you come here with petty squabbles about the Royal Selection? This is utterly ridiculous! Whoever dares speak such words in front of me again, I will cut out their tongue myself.”
“Please forgive me, Your Majesty.” Pierre stepped back with a face full of fear. “I only proposed a possibility for Your Majesty’s consideration. Your Majesty knows the Royal Selection is imminent. At a time like this, anyone could be using others to do their dirty work.”
Pierre was right. At such a time, anyone could do such a thing. And at the same time, anyone could be framed for it.
—
“Hey, listen, listen—I heard the Third Princess appeared at the city gate covered in blood today! She was attacked!”
“Your news is really slow. I heard it was the ‘Cursed Princess’ who did it.”
“Oh, come on. She’s not even competing for the throne. Why would she do that?”
“Who says she’s not interested in the throne? Did she tell you that herself? Honestly.”
“But seriously, the ‘Cursed Princess’ has been in the news more in the past two months than in her whole life combined. She went to the Northlands, then experienced the Battle of Solus City, and now… Hmph. I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
“Yeah, I agree. Maybe she’s playing a long game!”
As the group chatted excitedly, they saw a golden figure approaching from afar. They immediately shut their mouths. As the golden-haired girl passed by them, the silver-haired girl following behind shot them a look. The group immediately began trembling like sieves, then tumbled to the ground in a heap.
“Lita, don’t use your ability carelessly. What if someone finds out?” Cecilia frowned.
“But they were talking bad about Lady Cecilia behind her back.” Lita mumbled. “Besides, they didn’t notice, did they? They’ll just think they tripped.”
In truth, Lita hadn’t done much—just a very light Spirit Shock.
“You’re being childish.” Cecilia scolded, but Lita could still hear a note of amusement in her voice. ‘Even Cecilia has a childish side, being gleeful over something like this.’
“So, what do we do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Now a lot of people are saying we ambushed Lilia and Xingxian. Some even say it’s because of my crest’s power that I don’t have a scratch on me. Since I once beat Xingxian in a duel, that rumor sounds pretty believable.”
In truth, if they fought head-on, Lita wasn’t sure she could actually beat Xingxian. A duel was a duel, and a battlefield was a battlefield. Not only could Xingxian sniper Lita from afar, but on the battlefield, she could go all out. But being talked about like this, Lita didn’t know whether to be happy or annoyed.
“Let them talk. Didn’t you see the power of rumors in Solus City? And such a good opportunity—how could anyone not seize it?” Cecilia said calmly.
“What good opportunity? What should we do?” Lita blinked.
“Not our opportunity. Others’. We’re in the spotlight right now. Many people know what we’ve done. Using this chance to pin this trouble on us is a perfect move. It lets us take the heat, and at the same time, they can use rumors to suppress us. In the Royal City, things like this happen every day.”
“Oh…”
“Rumors won’t last long. This level of gossip will fall apart on its own soon.”
“Then what’s the point?”
“There are many uses. During this time, the real culprit can do something while Lilia is out of the way and we’re tied up in rumors. Also, these rumors plant seeds of unease in people’s hearts. Mistrust accumulates bit by bit, and it will eventually explode.”
‘It’s like a cyber rap sheet, isn’t it? All those little past indiscretions become damning evidence when the whole thing comes crashing down.’
“Now that I think about it, the only person who would do something like this is probably Amelia, right?”
Cecilia seemed to have already seen through what Lita was thinking. “By the way, I have no clue either. I can’t even guarantee this was done for the Royal Selection. Making people think this case is connected to the Selection might itself be a scheme. But I don’t think Amelia would do this.”
“Then we…”
“Do nothing.” Cecilia replied softly. “Right now, what we need to do is keep a low profile. A few people always make more noise, but in reality, most people will stay out of it until the dust settles.”